Civitas Review Online

Beth Wood: The rest of the story on late property taxes

Francis De Luca — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:03:07 +0000

North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood can’t seem to stay out of the news. In early February, Under the Dome reported Wood was late in paying a $1,200 property tax bill on her Raleigh residence. Wood said she was late because she had to repay a $90,000 loan she took out to help finance her 2008 campaign for State Auditor.

Wake County Property Tax online records indicate Wood paid her delinquent taxes in full on February 26, 2010. She later told Under the Dome, “I work from a budget. It is a choice I made to pay the property taxes late and pay the interest charge that goes with it.”

Come again? In February, didn’t Wood say the burden of her $90,000 campaign debt precipitated the late payment? Now a month later the State Auditor said, she’s on a budget and the late payment was merely a “choice” she made.

Seems like over the past decade Beth Wood has been making that “choice” quite frequently. Wake County Property Tax records indicate Wood was late in paying not only her 2009 property taxes but also her 2008 property taxes. A review of the records seems to indicate Wood frequently “chooses” not to pay her property taxes on time. She was late in 2000 on her Lexus, and in 1998 she was late paying taxes on the same car. As far back as 1995 she was “choosing” to pay her property taxes late.

Now it should be noted that in every case Auditor Woods has paid all of the taxes and whatever penalties and interest was assessed. What is interesting in the context of the story was her initial story that her borrowing money to finance her campaign was what necessitated her paying the taxes late. That does not seem to square with her record of past late payments.

In her present position as State Auditor we have to hope Woods ensures taxpayers that her approach to watching out for how tax dollars are spent is a little less cavalier than her approach to paying taxes.

NC Used Once Again

Chris Hayes — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:24:50 +0000

Since most companies know our state’s leadership are a bunch of suckers for incentive packages and will throw taxpayer money around chasing the elusive score, North Carolina has once again been used as the rabbit to run up the incentive package for another state — this time, Radio Shack has made NC its tease.

RadioShack, which has looked at Raleigh as a possible place to move its corporate headquarters, is making signs that it plans to stay in Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported today that the company’s lease on the Tarrant County College campus it shares with the college had been extended for five years.

So once again the state gets “played” for a package of incentives. Instead of just being used as a tool to drive up a negotiating position, it’s time the state just said no.

AFP’s New Healthcare Ad

Chris Hayes — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:14:35 +0000

Our friends at Americans for Prosperity are up with a new health care ad featuring a breast cancer survivor reminding us the ramifications of passing Obamacare.

Hello My Name is Barack Obama, and I’m a Spendaholic

Brian Balfour — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:18:41 +0000

The Heritage Foundation’s Brian Riedl has this lengthy summary of President Obama’s budget in the Wall Street Journal. An excerpt:

When he released his new budget proposal on February 1, President Barack Obama asserted that the government “simply cannot continue to spend as if deficits don’t have consequences; as if waste doesn’t matter; as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money; as if we can ignore this challenge for another generation.”

Yet the President’s new budget does exactly that– raising taxes by $3 trillion and federal spending by $1.6 trillion over the next ten years. If enacted, this budget would increase the 2010 deficit to more than $1.5 trillion, and leave a deficit of more than $1 trillion even after an assumed return to peace and prosperity. Overall, the President’s budget would double the national debt over the next decade.

Runaway debt, massive deficits, job-killing tax hikes. Oh the joys of Hope and Change.

Red State Catches Monkey Fever

Civitas — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:30:00 +0000

It seems the folks at Red State have notice our cocaine and monkeys article and have written a post about it. They also were quite creative in coming up with the following image to parody this wasteful spending.

Is Unemployment High Enough?

Chad Adams — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:10:33 +0000

One has to wonder what legislative leaders and the governor are thinking as unemployment rises yet again to a staggering 11.1%, up from the 10.9% in December. In spite of millions upon millions in incentives and hundreds of millions from Golden Leaf and still more millions given away at the local level, the economic development of our state has become a serious concern.

North Carolina has hovered around 11 percent unemployment since last April. In January 2009, unemployment statewide was at 9.2 percent.

If one adds the Global Transpark to the mix, economic development looks even more preposterous. Rather than look at ways to bring businesses to the state, our motto seems to be that we can bribe them to come here. In spite of numerous lists depicting NC as a great place to do business our tax system is antiquated, taxes are too high and we’re not focused on making the system any better.

Here’s a great visual of how bad things are statewide. My own county of Lee now sits at 14.6% in spite of ten years of manufacturing incentives.

Pelosi on Healthcare Bill Passage

Chad Adams — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:25:26 +0000

It’s somewhat dated news (two days) but it still is worth mentioning. As I was hosting “Take A Stand” on Monday I saw Pelosi’s comments to the National Association of Counties. Maybe a gaff, maybe an honest statement, but still worth mentioning (from USNews):

Pelosi began the windup of her healthcare pitch by alluding to the controversies over the healthcare bill and the process by which it has reached its current state. Then, just after saying, “It’s going to be very, very exciting,” Pelosi gaffed, telling the local elected officials assembled that Congress “[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy.”

Sometimes, comedy just appears from the pixie dust in Washington.

Peter Roff, in the same referenced column above, goes on to point out other Pelosi perspectives:

This is the same Nancy Pelosi who, only weeks earlier, was bragging about the transparency of the process that produced the bill that is currently stalled in Congress. The same Pelosi who brushed aside concerns raised by organizations like Let Freedom Ring!–where I am a senior fellow–that members of Congress actually commit to reading the bill before voting for it and that it be posted online for at least 72 hours before any vote so that the American people can read it, too.

Removing Del Burns: The Right Thing To Do

Bob Luebke — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:54:57 +0000

Last night the Wake County School Board placed Del Burns on administrative leave until the effective date of his resignation as superintendent of the Wake County Schools, June 30th. While I respect Mr. Burns’ contributions to Wake County Schools, I cannot agree with his decision to refuse to sign a statement to carry out board policy, as reported on last night’s TV news. Burns’ refusal is surprising to many. It also begs the question: If Burns doesn’t think he was hired to carry out school board policy, what then, does he consider his duties to be? Burns’ responsibilities are clearly spelled out in the statutes and his current employment contract. Those provisions also underscore, without question, that the superintendent serves the board and is an employee of the school board.

Three weeks ago Burns said he couldn’t agree with the direction of the board and submitted his resignation. Since then, his intemperate remarks have left no doubt that he couldn’t and wouldn’t carry out his responsibilities. The school board had no choice but to remove Mr. Burns. It was the right thing to do.

No Pay Raises Coming for State Employees (Again)

Brian Balfour — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:23:16 +0000

Gov. Perdue today announced that North Carolina state employees won’t be getting a pay raise in this summer’s budget. Perdue did, however, mention the possibility of paying back the unpaid two-day furlough from last year; but that remains in doubt.

Perdue’s administration writes the first draft of the state budget every year, and lawmakers then make substantial changes before passing it. In this case, though, legislative leaders already agreed with Perdue on forgoing raises. They expressed caution about paying back the $65 million to $70 million in furlough money.

“It depends on the economy,” said Rep. Mickey Michaux, a Durham Democrat and senior budget committee chairman. “I would gladly consider it, but that’ll be tempered by what [revenue] we’re bringing in.”

The governor did not comment on whether any state workers will lose their jobs this year, an issue on which they had conflicting messages recently.

Father Sirico vs. Charlie Rangel

Chris Hayes — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:08:49 +0000

On March 25, the Civitas Institute is sponsoring a lecture by Father Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute who will be speaking on “Does Social Justice Require Socialism?”

Too see a bit of what Fr. Sirico is about, check out his “Tangle with Rangel” from a House Committee hearing in 2007.

To attend the lecture, sign up on the Civitas website here. The cost is $10 for individuals, $15 per couple.